Hadhrat ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Umar Radhiallaahu ‘Anhumaa says: I heard Rasoolullaah Sallallaahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam saying: When you enter into the ‘Eenah transaction, and you take hold of the tails of cows, and you are content with farming, and you abandon Jihaad, Allaah will cast disgrace upon you and He will not remove it until you return to your religion. – Sunan Abu Daawood.

Status: This Hadeeth is Saheeh due to it having more than one chain of narration, it is also reported in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad Rahimahullaah, and by Imaam Bayhaqi Rahimahullaah in his Sunan Al-Kubraa, and others.

That is the literal translation of the Hadeeth, as for the explanation:

“When you enter into the ‘Eenah transaction”

What is this ‘Eenah transaction?

The ‘Ulamaa have explained it as: When a shopkeeper sells his merchandise for a set amount of money to be paid for at a later date, but then buys it back (before the buyer has taken possession of it) for a lesser amount than what the buyer paid for it.

An example would be like ‘Amr is in need of 8000 Riyaal. Along comes Zayd who owns a truck. Zayd comes to ‘Amr and says, I will sell this truck to you for 1000 Riyaal per month over a period of 10 months (In total he will be paying 10,000 Riyaal) and they agree on it. ‘Amr then takes possession of the truck, But Zayd comes back to him the next day and buys the same truck back from him for 8500 cash. ‘Amr originally needed only 8000, so he sells it to back to Zayd for that price. ‘Amr then pays his installments for those 10 months.

So at the end of the 10 month period what happens is that Zayd ends up with 1500 Riyaal more than what he was supposed to get. Because in reality what Zayd had done was to give ‘Amr a loan of 8500, but had received 10,000 in payment from ‘Amr, so it is a loophole through which Ribaa (Interest) enters.

Regarding the permissibility or impermissibility thereof, the ‘Ulamaa of the four Madhaahib have three views:

1: Permissible

2: Makrooh (disliked)

3: Prohibited

The reasons for their differing opinions is due to their Usool (principles) and way they understand the Nusoos (Islaamic texts i.e. Qur’aan and Sunnah), and that discussion is left for the ‘Ulamaa, the layman is unable to understand the Nusoos let alone the Usool therefore it does him no good to even get involved in it, but if a person is studying the Deen and wants to know more then for him it is fine, because he can discuss it with his Asaatidhah (teachers), therefore I shan’t discuss those things here, and it suffices to say that the majority of ‘Ulamaa are of the view that this sort of transaction is not permissible.

There are also additional forms of ‘Eenah which can be found in the books of Fiqh.

Also I should add here that it’s not necessary that the Hadeeth is only referring to a particular ‘Eenah transaction, rather if we are to look at the ‘Illah (cause/reason) why this transaction is singled out, it can be said that it is because it is a common way of trying to make a loophole for Ribaa, so we can say that this Hadeeth refers to people trying to look for any kind of loopholes in order to permit Ribaa as is widespread today in banks etc.

“and you take hold of the tails of cows,”

Meaning you get involved in dealing with livestock.

“and you are content with farming,”

The intended meaning of this and the line above is not of outright prohibition of farming and having livestock, rather it refers to a person indulging in these things and due to his involvement in this he abandons Jihaad.

“and you abandon Jihaad”

This refers to offensive Jihaad as well as defensive Jihaad, because it is a given fact that a Muslim has no choice but to fight when it is a defensive Jihaad, and history testifies to this fact, that Islaam and the Muslims were always high and lofty while the Khulafaa waged Jihaad, but once people became lax with regards to Jihaad, and got involved with the Dunyaa, then Allaah removed that honour from them and made the Kuffaar victorious over them.

“Allaahwill cast disgrace upon you and He will not remove it until you return to your religion”

There has not been a time when this Hadeeth has proven to be as true as it is in our time, we live in an age where the Khilaafah has been destroyed, where the Muslim lands are ruled by other than what Allaah has revealed, where Muslims are happy to live in the lands of the Kuffaar etc, and as a result, Allaah has placed so much disgrace upon them, that Muslims are not even allowed to practice Islaam freely, in both Muslim and Kuffaar countries! The only place where honour and dignity exists are the lands of Jihaad, therein a Muslim is free to practice the Deen the way Allaah wants us to practice it, where no Muslim has to hide his Deen for fear of being imprisoned or killed by Kuffaar and Munaafiqeen.

An important point to remember and take note of here is the fact that the Ahaadeeth are also from Allaah, and that Rasoolullaah Sallallaahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam did not just choose any random words, and what is to be noted here is the words:

“until you return to your religion”

Rasoolullaah Sallallaahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam has used the words “Religion”, this shows what an important part Jihaad plays in the life of a Muslim, that if a Muslim were to turn away from it, then it is as if he has turned away from the Deen of Islaam.